Memoirs of an Addicted Brain

A Neuroscientist Examines his Former Life on Drugs

Our minds are governed by a cycle of craving what we don't have, finding it, using it up or losing it, and then being driven by loss, need, desire, or insecurity to crave it all the more. This cycle is at the root of all addictions: addictions to drugs, drink, cigarettes, sex, love, soap operas, wealth, and wisdom itself. But why should this be so? Why are we so driven, often at great cost to ourselves? No one is better qualified to answer these questions than Dr. Marc Lewis. He is a distinguished neuroscientist. And, for many years, he was a drug addict himself, dependent on a long series of dangerous substances. His narrative moves back and forth between the long, dark, ultimately triumphant story of his relationship with drugs, and a revelatory analysis of what was going on in Marc's brain. He shows how drugs speak to the brain--itself designed to seek rewards and soothe pain--in its own language. He shows in detail the different neurological effects of a variety of powerful drugs, from oxycodone to heroin, from drink to love. This is the story of his journey, seen from the inside out.

READ AN EXCERPT

The first time I got drunk was with Whitney Talcott. It was a March night and freezing cold. I had been at Tabor less than six months, and depression was now a palpable daily companion, a disease to be managed. There were good days and bad days, but the good days were just tolerable and the bad days nearly did me in. I...

PRAISE FOR

Praise for Memoirs of an Addicted Brain"An engrossing swirl of personal history, themes of loss and triumph, deftly rendered brain science, and clear thinking on the dilemma of addiction. Illuminating even to experts, accessibly written for all." —Gabor Maté M.D., author of In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts